Systematics: Originally proposed as the earliest species closer to Homo than to Australopithecus (Senut et al. 2001). However, this poses temporal difficulties, since it dates from a time when, according to genetic evidence, the human and chimpanzee lineages had only just begun to diverge, or perhaps had not diverged at all (Patterson et al. 2006). Instead it may be a very early species in the human lineage (Cela-Conde et al. 2003) or, given the timing, something close to the human-chimpanzee concestor. See: Hominini (concestor), stem-Hominini

Cranial Capacity: unknown, but probably about 350 cc

Description: Probably somewhat chimp- or bonobo-like, but with a more habitually upright posture.

Adult Female Height: 0.7 to 1m

Adult Male Height: 0.9 to 1.2m

References:

Cela-Conde, C. J. and F. J. Ayala (2003). Genera of the human lineage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences100(13):7684-7689. doi:10.1073/pnas.0832372100

2 comments:

I've seen some of your previous Carnotaurus comics, funny stuff. But the March of Man is genius. I got into paleo because of those timelife books, 2 decades ago rather than 4, and am really hip to watching this project evolve. good luck, too bad i'm not a artist.

ps, Under the Banner of Heaven is a disturbing book, and it gets moreso farther into it...